Little River’s Rosegrange Pastoral Co has been crowned JBS Australia’s 2018 Great Southern beef producer of the year, while Willswood Farms, Bordertown, SA, has taken out the top lamb title.

The prestigious awards were announced during JBS triennial producer forum and gala held at Crown in Melbourne on Friday, and featured more than 500 industry guests.

Achieving an impressive high score of 94.8, Rosegrange was praised for its outstanding beef carcases which excelled in the MSA grading assessment.

Willswood Farms also impressed the judges of the lamb award with a score of 95.7, exceeding the strict 50 per cent of both weight and fat assessment, numbers delivered, the spread of kill, and brand loyalty in the past four years.

Producers from New South Wales, Gippsland, South Western Victoria, Tasmania, King Island, to Flinders Island, and South Australia, attended the prestigious event.

JBS’ best producers crowned

JBS' Steve Chapman, with winners of the lamb producer of the year, Greg and Tim Williams, and JBS' Sam McConnell.

Held every three years, the Great Southern Producer of the Year Awards is the largest premium beef and lamb event in Australia.

JBS southern livestock manager, Steve Chapman, said the Great Southern brand had grown to become a successful name in just six years, thanks to the high-quality red meat supplied by Australian producers.

Producers supplying the brand need to adhere to the Great Southern Farm Assurance program, which includes being grassfed, antibiotic free, and hormone growth promotant free.This program has more than 2500 beef producers and 1100 lamb producers involved.

“Great Southern is a customer based and demand-driven program and partnership between producers, consumers and JBS Australia,” Mr Chapman said.

“It has become JBS Southern's premium export brand for both beef and lamb, and is marketed around the world while also having a strong domestic foothold with both food service and retail.

Rosegrange Pastoral Co, Little River, won JBS's 2018 beef producer of the year award. JBS's Sam McConnell presents Jock Richmond with the trophy and a first prize of a trip to the United States.

With more than 3,600 producers across southern Australia in the Great Southern Program, we are committed to producing quality and reliable product for consumers year round.”

JBS southern chief operating officer, Sam McConnell, said the quality of the Southern Australian producers was second to none.

“All of our producers have been handpicked based on their strong focus on genetics, continuous improvement in meat quality and growing animals the right way – without taking shortcuts,” Mr McConnell said.

“I’d like to congratulate those who were named in our top 10 producers for beef and lamb as well as the other 3,600 producers in the program.”

Dinner guests were ushered in through a novel Norton portable cattle race in the Palladium Room a the Crown Casino Friday evening.